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The Camden International Film Festival announced the award winning films from its tenth edition, which marked the end of a four-day weekend that included the screening of over 70 films from dozens of countries, as well as the 6th Points North Documentary Forum. The festival hosted over 150 filmmakers and industry leaders, with filmmakers in attendance for almost every public screening and an increased number of passes sold, despite the beautiful autumnal Maine weather.

This year’s Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature went to CIFF’s Opening Night film VIRUNGA directed by Orlando von Einsiedel, who attended the festival to present his film and went on to accept the award via Skype. The Jury, consisting of Susan Margolin (President, Docurama), Banker White (Filmmaker, THE GENIUS OF MARIAN) and Cecily Pingree (Filmmaker, BETTING THE FARM) awarded their Special Jury Mention to J.P. Sniadecki’s THE IRON MINISTRY which had its US Premiere at CIFF and continues on to play the New York Film Festival later this week.

In an unprecedented turn of events, Ann and Dick Costello, the sponsors of the Camden International Film Festival Audience Award took the stage to announce an increase from a $1,000 to a $2,500 cash reward for the recipient, in honor of the vibrancy of the emerging filmmakers they took in over the course of the weekend. Maine-made WILD HOMEdirected by Jack Schurman and co-directed by Robert Schurman received not only a standing ovation at their World Premiere screening but also received the 2014 Audience Award and increased cash prize. Filmmakers were in attendance to accept this award.

In CIFF’s continued commitment to furthering the short form of documentaries, they announced the award recipients from two additional partnerships. The first was the Camden Cartel Award for Best Short sponsored by the Non-Fiction Cartel. Honorable Mention went to Luke Lorentzen’s SANTA CRUZ DEL ISLOTE and the Camden Cartel Award was given to Ciaran Cassidy’s THE LAST DAYS OF PETER BERGMANN.

The second was a new partnership with Al Jazeera’s AJ+ channel who held their first ever AJ+ Pitch at CIFF, a Live Pitch offering five filmmakers the chance to pitch their short documentary concepts and works-in-progress to a panel of filmmakers and industry leaders for up to $10,000 cash and a commission from the AJ+ channel. The Jury included AJ+’s Jeff Seelbach, Tribeca Film Institute’s Ryan Harrington and filmmakers Margaret Brown and Rebecca Richman Cohen.

Last but not least, CIFF announced the winner of their expanded Points North Fellowship, with a day of training at Maine Media Workshop prior to the festival and the Pitch event to a panel of funders, broadcasters, on Saturday, September 27 at the Camden Opera House. 2014 documentary works-in-progress included Tony Gerber’s AMERICAN WARLORD, Adam Mazo and Ben Pender-Cudlip’s DAWNLAND, Amy Benson, Ramyata Limbu and Scott Squire’s THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, Pacho Velez’s THE REAGAN YEARS, Cassidy Friedman’s SOLEDAD, and Elisa Haradon and Gabriel Miller’s SWEETHEART DEAL. The 2014 Points North Pitch Award and Modulus Funishing Fund was granted to THE REAGAN YEARS, with director Pacho Velez and producer Sierra Pettengill receiving $1,000 cash prize from Documentary Educational Resources, three consultations with the Tribeca Film Institute and a post-production package from Modulus Studios worth approximately $10,000.

The Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) has announced its slate of feature and short films in their 10th festival taking place September 25– 28, 2014 throughout Camden, Rockport and Rockland, Maine. CIFF will present over 60 features and short films from all across the globe and from our very own Maine, with filmmakers in attendance at nearly every screening.

Now entering its tenth year, the Camden International Film Festival presents a snapshot of the cultural landscape through the year’s best non-fiction storytelling. The festival is recognized as one of the top 12 documentary film festivals in the world, and one of the 12 best small town film festivals in the US. In addition to the festival’s expanded Points North Fellowship, a new partnership with Al Jazeera’s AJ+ to host the first AJ+ live pitch, CIFF announces the 2014 slate of films, which include Points North Pitch alum In Country and Mateo. In addition to the titles below, CIFF will screen the Cinema Eye Honors’ Nonfiction Short Film Finalists, whose titles will be announced from the festival later this month.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with this years festival program,” says Ben Fowlie, Founder and Executive Director of the Camden International Film Festival. “Over the past ten years we’ve had the opportunity to share a selection of films that highlight both the creativity and unique ways artists are using to tell stories, and the impact these stories can have on community. This year is no exception”.

2014 CAMDEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FEATURES:

A GOAT FOR A VOTEJeroen van Velzen | Netherlands | 2014

ACTRESSRobert Greene | United States | 2014FILMMAKER AND SUBJECT IN ATTENDANCE!

ALIVE INSIDEMichael Rossato-Bennett | United States | 2014

APPROACHING THE ELEPHANTAmanda Rose Wilder | United States | 2014FILMMAKER AND SUBJECT IN ATTENDANCE!

ART AND CRAFTSam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman, co-directed by Mark Becker | United States | 2014FILMMAKER IN ATTENDANCE!

The Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) announces their partnership with AJ+, the new digital platform from Al Jazeera Media Network that commissions original, innovative and engaging short documentaries from journalists and filmmakers around the world. AJ+ in association with the Camden International Film Festival will select five independent filmmakers who will be given the chance to pitch their short documentary concepts and works-in-progress to a panel of filmmakers and industry leaders at this year’s CIFF. Based on the pitch, AJ+ will commission up to five projects at up to $10,000 per project. Submissions for this opportunity are now open through August 25, 2014 at midnight PST.

All selected filmmakers will be provided with an All Access pass to CIFF (September 25-28, 2014) and a stipend to support both travel and accommodations during the festival. This opportunity is for stories driven by strong characters, compelling voices, and unique insights into events and issues that may be local but resonate with our connected and globally-minded audience. Pieces must be current, but not necessarily driven by current affairs.

In the channel’s first-ever live pitch session, they are calling for original short film ideas and projects that look to the future. Apocalyptic images have haunted our timelines all summer. Now they are asking filmmakers for short documentary films that engage with one of the following questions:

What are the emergent cultural, political or technological trends that are shaping our lives in surprising ways?

How are individuals or communities responding to crises that threaten their future in unexpected ways?

What does ‘sustainability’ look like?

Pitches will be accepted from filmmakers of all nationalities. They may be drawn from feature-length documentary projects, although concepts that work as a standalone short film are preferred. Films that have already been completed or released online are not eligible for the pitch.

Following the success of last year’s The New York Times Op Docs live pitch at CIFF, the first of its kind in North America, the festival continues to cultivate new opportunities for documentary filmmakers in both feature and short content through their Points North Documentary Forum, which runs concurrently to the festival and recently expanded with their own Points North Fellowship, whose 2014 fellows will be announced September 2.

The fee for submission is $25 and the deadline is August 25, 2014 at 12 midnight PST.

The Points North Fellowship enhances and expands upon the well-established Points North Pitch, a unique opportunity to pitch documentary works-in-progress to an international delegation of funders, commissioning editors and producers before a live audience. Submissions are open until July 18, 2014. Filmmakers, send us your works-in-progress!

Camden International Film Festival launches the Aging in Maine Screening Tour, a new statewide program that brings screenings of award-winning documentary films and discussions to more than ten different communities between March and July 2014.

The tour is the second part of CIFF’s inaugural Engagement Summit: Aging in Maine, a unique program that connects Maine-based nonprofit leaders with documentary films and filmmakers to develop community-based social action campaigns designed to engage communities in a thoughtful inter-generational dialogue around the issues of aging and dementia-related illness.

During the 2013 festival, fourteen organizations from across Maine convened in Camden to identify a wide range of needs facing aging communities and the organizations that support them, as well as workshops on how to utilize the power of nonfiction storytelling to advance their advocacy goals. Participating nonprofits included the Aging Consultation Services, Aroostook Agency on Aging, the Bingham Program, Dirigo-Maine Geriatrics Society, Eastern Area Agency on Aging, Maine Gerontological Society, MaineHealth, Methodist Conference Home, Office of Aging and Disability Services, Pen Bay Healthcare, Seniors Plus, Spectrum Generations and the University of Maine Center on Aging. “The summit and screenings are proving to be a superb way in which to mobilize Maine’s aging services providers and help them share with the larger public poignant stories of both the joys and challenges associated with growing older,” said Len Kaye, Director of the University of Maine Center on Aging. “The beneficiaries will be Maine’s citizens who will leave the film screenings better informed of the issues, places to turn for help, and the emerging opportunities associated with Maine’s ranking as the oldest state in the nation.”

Films screened as part of the Aging in Maine tour will include CIFF’s 2013 Harrell Award for Best Documentary, The Genius of Marian, a selection of short films called Golden Shorts and other aging films including Age of Champions, First Cousin Once Removed and Last Dreams, which also received a Special Jury mention at last year’s festival.

Sunday, April 6 – Frontier Cafe, Brunswick
Screening: The Genius of Marian at 2pm and Last Dreams at 5pmIn partnership with The Alzheimer’s Association – Maine Chapter. Q&A with Program Director, Bill Kirkpatrick.

THE GENIUS OF MARIAN
Directed by Banker White and Anna FitchSynopsis: The Genius of Marian is a visually rich, emotionally complex story about one family’s struggle to come to terms with the changes Alzheimer’s disease brings. After Pam White is diagnosed at age 61 with early onset Alzheimer’s, life begins to change, slowly but irrevocably, for Pam and everyone around her. Pam’s husband grapples with his changing role from primary partner to primary caregiver. Her adult children find ways to show their love and support while mourning the slow loss of their mother.

As she loses the ability to write, Pam’s eldest son, Banker, begins to record their conversations, allowing her to share memories of childhood and of her own mother, the renowned painter Marian Williams Steele who died of Alzheimer’s in 2001. The Genius of Marian paints a powerful contemporary portrait of the impact of Alzheimer’s disease, the power of art and the meaning of family.

LAST DREAMS
Directed by Estephan WagnerSynopsis: LAST DREAMS follows three women during their last month of life. Through them we get an intimate and honest picture of what it means to be close to death – stories of solitude, reconciliation and love during the process of saying goodbye. We follow their relationship with doctors, nurses, priests and family members. We are present when they discuss their most intimate subjects, when they express their love for their family members and as they go through a fundamental and final transformation.

FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED
Directed by Alan BerlinerSynopsis: Synopsis: A distinguished poet, translator, critic and teacher, Edwin Honig wrote dozens of books and poems that attracted critical praise around the world. His seminal translations awakened English-speaking readers to previously overlooked literary giants, resulting in honorary knighthoods from the king of Spain and the president of Portugal.

In FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED, acclaimed documentary filmmaker Alan Berliner’s paints a deeply personal portrait of his “good friend, cousin and mentor” as Honig journeys through the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss. A stark reminder of the profound role memory plays in everyone’s life, this moving essay on the fragility of being human.

AGE OF CHAMPIONS
Directed by Christopher RufoSynopsis: Age of Champions is the award-winning PBS documentary following five competitors who sprint, leap, and swim for gold at the National Senior Olympics. You’ll meet a 100-year-old tennis champion, 86-year-old pole vaulter, and rough-and-tumble basketball grandmothers as they triumph over the limitations of age.

The Washington Post called the film “infectiously inspiring” and theater audiences across the country have fallen in love with its light-hearted take on growing older. It’s a powerful story to share with the whole family and get inspired to be healthier, happier, and more active.

OLD PEOPLE DRIVING
Directed by Shaleece HaasSynopsis: Old People Driving chronicles the adventures of 96-year-old Milton and 99-year-old Herbert as they confront the end of their driving years. The film follows Herbert as he takes his last drive, hands over his keys and comes to terms with the reality of life without a car. Milton, meanwhile, continues to drive every day and vows to do so until he feels he’s no longer safe on the road. Through their stories, and a review of the latest traffic safety research, the film dispels some of the myths about elderly drivers without shying away from the fact that many will outlive their ability to drive safely.

The Aging in Maine screening tour is sponsored by Camden National Bank. Many screenings will be FREE and Open to the Public. Additional screenings will be announced as the tour continues.